Chapter 1156: Chapter 367: King of Kings, God of Gods, Star of the Stars
For the Hawks, the primary goal was to completely tank, which is why they traded away Marion, a player who could potentially change their plans.
Last season, it was Michael Jordan and Pippen who forcibly dragged the team into the playoffs, disrupting all their plans and causing the Hawks’ shareholder group to miss out on Atlanta’s local talent, Dwight Howard.
They won’t allow similar incidents to happen again.
To this point, the legacy of the Hawks Dynasty has essentially been squandered.
In the eyes of the Hawks’ shareholder group, the blame lies squarely on LeBron James; it’s all controlled by LeBron!
If he weren’t so ineffective, a 41-year-old Michael would never have made it to the playoffs.
The Hawks can’t control others, so they can only choose to control themselves. They need a complete reconstruction to remedy this mistake.
In the original timeline, people said the Lakers wasted Kobe Bryant’s prime because, during the years when he was at his peak, the team’s lineup was ironically the worst.
Smash Parker starting was practically a snapshot of those years’ Lakers lineup. He was the undisputed starter for two seasons but was immediately cut after playing just nine games with the Heat following his departure from the Lakers.
A team’s starter couldn’t even make it as a substitute elsewhere; this was the level of teammates Kobe had during his peak. Pairing peak Kobe with the Lakers felt like matching a superb physique with an ugly face, always leaving one with a sense of regret.
But today, Kobe Bryant at his peak still has a rather competitive lineup.
No one knows what heights he can lead the Lakers to.
As for the Magic acquiring Dwight Howard, they also used this super rookie to stabilize Tracy McGrady’s emotions.
McGrady didn’t want to live under Roger’s shadow, which led to him being at odds with the team last season.
But the Magic promised him an unparalleled position within the team and guaranteed to build a championship-winning lineup centered around McGrady.
The addition of Dwight Howard also gave McGrady more confidence in the team’s future.
However, many media outlets started reporting that Dwight was McGrady’s Shaq, which made McGrady quite annoyed.
He was essentially the "Roger substitute" for the Orlandans!
Though teased by the media, who knows what McGrady and Howard joining forces could lead to?
The San Antonio Spurs lost Payton but learned from last season’s insufficient outside shooting response by signing shooters like Brent Barry. Alongside the growth of Manu and the French car, the Spurs will still be competitive next season.
Gary Payton went full circle and ended up with the New York Knicks; he only joined championship-contending teams, believing he could win a ring in Roger’s era.
All these transfers are committed to one thing — defeating Roger, causing the fall of the god.
Among all these teams, the Cavaliers underwent the greatest change.
LeBron James returned to the United States after a disorienting Olympics to find out that the Cavaliers were sold.
The Cavaliers’ original owner, Gordon Gund, had previously brought Michael Jordan on board essentially in hopes of enhancing the team’s influence over the years to sell the team for a good price.
However, last season’s hype around LeBron James and Michael Jordan’s partnership misled Gordon Gund.
At one point, he wanted to continue running the team, believing the Chosen One could lead the Cavaliers to make big profits and get on track.
To that end, he even backstabbed Michael Jordan.
But when James lost the playoff spot battle to Michael Jordan, Gordon Gund awoke from his dreams.
Now is the best time to sell the team at a high price and cash out, because in a few years, everyone will see what LeBron James is truly made of.
It turns out, LeBron James is still very appealing, as the Quicken Loans owner Dan Gilbert purchased the Cleveland Cavaliers for $375 million — the highest sale price in NBA history.
Two years ago, Russians bought the Golden State Warriors from Chris Cohan without spending as much.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, considered a small team, held such value because of LeBron James.
Under the new contract rules, the "restricted free agent" clause binds LeBron James deeply with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Dan Gilbert still believes in LeBron James’ potential and commercial value, considering him the American native Roger.
Sure, Dan Gilbert certainly isn’t foolish. Saying James is the American native Roger doesn’t mean he thinks James and Roger are on the same level. In Dan Gilbert’s eyes, Roger is the most perfect basketball player of this era.
James falls short compared to him, but not by much. While unable to become Roger, he can at least become Michael Jordan.
As long as a better environment is created for the No. 23, boosting the team’s competitiveness, overturning Roger is within reach.
If Roger can be defeated, LeBron James will become the most commercially valuable basketball player in the world, and the Cavaliers will become the most profitable team worldwide!
Such are the natural laws of competitive sports: Michael Jordan’s downfall paved the way for Roger, Kobe tried to emulate but failed too many times, he at best counts as a Drexler; LeBron James is the one who can overthrow Roger!